Dave tried to jump back from the beast to avoid being cut by it, as he heard the lion growl. But, a sudden pain in his torso told him otherwise. He looked down at his shirt and saw a large tear in it, exposing the bloodied skin beneath. Dave put his hand on the location of the wound, receiving a small joint of pain from putting the slightest amount of pressure on the cut. Sure enough, when he looked at his hand, it was covered in blood. Dave looked back at the lion that was in a pouncing position. He could see the furousity in the eyes of the lion, as the sharp black pupils of it beamed right into Dave's eyes. Dave knew he didn't have much time to act.

He looked ahead of himself and saw that the ladder leading up to the high ledge was still there. Dave made a quick dash to it and grasped onto the cool metal handles. However, the moment he made contact to the ladder, he felt another sharp pain stretch across his back. Dave put his non bloodied hand on his back and felt a large tear in the back of his shirt, as well as blood. It let off a stinging feeling as the soft flesh came in contact to Dave's hand. Without delaying any longer, he began to climb up the ladder. As he climbed, he could hear the loud thumping of the lion's paws hitting the wall as it tried to get at Dave. About half way up the ladder, Dave felt that the lion abruptly stopped. He didn't think about looking down at it due to simple fear and terror.

Dave grunted as he made his way to the top of the ladder. He panted and rolled onto his back and laid on the ground. The soft breathing of the lion below could be heard over Dave's heavy panting. Dave looked up at the ceiling, knowing that there isn't a way out of the room. The steel door locked itself at night and wouldn't open again until morning. Sighing, he looked over the ledge to see what the lion was doing. Amazingly, it was sitting on the ground looking up at him. A confused look came upon Dave as the large feline looked at him. A slight itch spawned on his back, but he ignored it for now.

"Do not fear, brother. I will not harm you anymore." A deep male voice suddenly said, making Dave jump.

"Who the fuck just said that?" Dave shouted, in shock and fear.

"Down here." The voice said again.

"Holy shit! Are you... talking?" Dave asked, staring at the feline.

"Yes. Now please, I ask that you come down here." The lion said.

"Why should I? You're just gonna hurt me again." Dave said in a cocky tone.

"Did you check where I scratched you yet?" The lion asked.

"Umm, yeah. It's a whole lotta blood." Dave replied, looking at the small pool of it on the ground.

"Check again." The lion said.

Dave put his hand on his back where the feline got him. Gasping, he was surprised to find that the cut was gone. What surprised Dave even more was that he felt some type of fuzz where the cut used to be. He pulled on it and received a jolt of a pain from doing so. Dave was completely amazed on what he felt. Getting onto his knees, he looked down at the cut on the front part of his body. He saw that there was pale yellow fur in the exact place where the cut was.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Dave shouted in anger.

"Come down and I will explain, brother." The lion said in a stern tone.

"Why do you keep calling me brother?" Dave asked.

"Just come down and I will tell you everything." The lion said once more.

"Fine. Just don't try to attack me again." Dave said.

Dave went back over to the ladder and proceeded to climb down it. As he went, he could feel the fur on the front of him come in contact with the ladder. Just the thought of him being able to feel something like that made him shiver. He felt his feet touch the floor, as he turned around to see the lion directly in front of him. Dave gasped, but knew that the feline wasn't going to hurt him.

"Alright, now tell me what the hell is going on." Dave said in a stern voice.

"What is going on to you is a gift. A special gift that nobody has ever received. Until now, that is." The lion said.

"Gift? What is this gift?" Dave asked, intrigued.

"The gift is, to be free. To live life through a new set of eyes. Experience what it is like to be a part of the wild." The lion said.

"I'm not following." Dave replied.

"Be one of us. Be a lion."

"What?! Is that what this fur means?!" Dave shouted in total surprise.

"Yes, brother. By scratching you, I gave you the sample of the gift. There is one more thing I would have to do to allow the full gift to be given."

"Great, you'd have to scratch me some more?" Dave asked.

"No. I would simply place my paws on both of the fur lines. That's it." The lion said in a calm tone.

"And if I decline this so called gift...?" Dave said in a lead-off.

"Then you'll live with those fur lines forever. If you try to get rid of it, it will simply grow right back."

"Well, that kinda sucks. I'm not sure if I want to give up my human life for this though." Dave said.

"It's all up to you, Dave." The lion said.

"What the fuck?! How do you know my name?" Dave asked in surprise.

"I know many things about you now. I know for a fact that once you return to the United States, you will simply go back to living your dull life. I know you just lied to me, don't try to hide it."

"Well, I, umm..." Dave was at a loss of words.

"Exactly. But, if you be one of us, you can live life anew."

"...I'll do it. One question, is this thing permanent?" Dave asked.

"Yes. Once you're a lion, you can never return to being a human. But believe me when I say this, you won't regret it."

Dave sighed. "Alright, I understand. Let's do this."

The lion stood up and walked to the left side of Dave. He faced the human and sat down on his hind legs. Using his front legs, he slowly lifted its paws off the ground. He moved each of its paws on the front and back side of Dave, being careful not to bring the claws out. Once the paws were hovering over the fur lines, he pressed both of them down on Dave at the same time. Dave gasped on not only the lion touching him, but something else that the lion emitting from his paws into his body. As the lion stepped back a little, Dave could already feel something dwelling inside of his own body.

"Will this hurt?" Dave asked, moaning slightly.

"Not one bit." The lion said.

Dave pressed on his chest as he felt the sensation grow stronger. It seemed to overwhelm his organs, making Dave slightly dizzy. Suddenly, he felt the sensation pulse strongly into his arms. It struck into his bones and muscles as it quickly overtook the limbs. Dave managed to hold them out in front of him as he felt the changes begin.

It began with the base of his arms and the shoulders as he felt a tingling rise on his skin. He pulled up his arm sleeve and was amazed on the sight he saw. Yellow fur was quickly growing down his arms. Dave simply watched in awe as the fur quickly covered his arms and hands. He felt the sensation build up in his hands as he held them towards him. All of his fingers began to reform and change, making his thumbs tiny and useless. They all grew thicker slightly and merged closer together. Dave was amazed that he didn't feel any pain in his hands as the changed continued.

Next, he felt his fingernails change. They moved from the top to the tips of what used to be his fingers. Dave felt them narrow and grow into his hands more. Through the fur, he could see them turn black and sharpen into lions claws. Suddenly, he felt warm spots on the palms of fur his covered hands. The warm spots pushed through his skin, as Dave saw soft pads of skin that resembled paw marks. The spots turned black, and to top it off, his new paws grew larger in overall size.

Before Dave could say anything, he felt the sensation strike in a different way within his arms. Dave watched as both of his arms bulked up a large amount, tearing the sleeves off of his shirt to reveal the lion fur beneath. He felt the joints in his arms change slightly, as well as his shoulders, to make his arms into his soon-to-be front legs. He flexed the joints, getting used to the feeling of it.

Dave felt the sensation quickly move into his torso, as the changes began. He slashed his shirt off with his claws to be able to see the changes underneath. He smiled as he watched the yellow fur quickly spread all over his torso. The fur lines blended in with the surrounding lion fur, never to be seen again. He felt warmer due to his fur covering much of his body. Dave began to pant as he felt the dynamics of his torso change. His spine bulked slightly up near the top of his back, making him unbalance. He shouted as he fell to the ground, catching himself with his paws. Dave didn't bother trying to get back up as his torso fully resembled a lions.

He wasn't able to see very well due to the angle he was at, but he was able to feel the sensation move down into his legs. Dave felt the fur press against his jeans as it quickly covered both of his legs. The near same scenario happened to his feet like his hands, as his new back paws exploded out of his shoes. Before Dave could stand correctly, he felt more changes spawn in his legs. The top part of his legs sunk into his body slightly and widened a large amount. His knee joint changed as well as his ankles, causing his jeans to explode off of his legs to reveal lion legs. Finally, his pelvis bone grew in width, making his back legs slightly farther apart.

Mustering his energy, he picked himself onto all four of his legs, perfectly balancing his body on his paws. Dave already felt the wild side that the lion explained to him, considering he was nearly a full lion himself. However, he knew that there were still a few more changes to come. A sudden pulling in Dave's spine made him look over his feline body, grinning on the sight he saw. A lions tail had grown out of his spine. Dave flexed his tail, getting the blood flowing through it.

Finally, the sensation quickly rushed into Dave's head and neck, spawning changes instantly. His neck grew larger in height and width, making Dave's head higher than his body. The muscles in his neck grew stronger so it could support his head. Next, a large tingling feeling erupted on all sides of his neck. Peeking over, Dave grinned on the sight of a large mane forming around his neck. He even noticed his hair contributed to his mane. As Dave's mane fully grew, he felt both of his ears start to relocate. They moved back into his mane and shifted slightly upwards on his head. Finally, they proceeded to grow fur upon them and grow out of his mane, in clear sight as lion ears.

Dave gasped as he felt the changes suddenly begin on his face. Fur quickly covered every inch of his face as the first real part of it began. His mouth began to pull out and widen from his head. Dave looked down in front of him as his mouth and nose were quickly pulled outwards. As it pulled, he felt his tongue widen and all of his teeth become near razor sharp. His nose formed quickly into a lions nose, as whiskers grew from above his mouth. Dave's eyes quickly changed into a slits as the surrounding area turned green in his eyes.

Due to his mouth reforming, it pulled out his entire skull into a new, non human shape. Rather, a mighty lions face was now visible. The new beast let out a mighty roar of triumph, and then proceeded to look at the lion that made him this way.

"This is amazing." Dave said, noticing that his voice is much deeper than before.

"It will be even better once they set us out into the wild." The lion said.

"What is your name?" Dave asked.

"Just call me Zol."

"Alright then." Dave replied.

Suddenly, a loud shifting sound came from the ceiling of the room. Dave looked up and saw the pistons holding the door begin to push forward. The door slowly began to drop down, the light of the sun beaming into the room. As the room grew brighter, Dave was able to better see what he had become.

"Zol, thank you very much for this gift." Dave said.

"No problem. I need a brother and a friend to be with in the wild." Zol said.

"Are you ready then, brother?" Dave asked, as the door was fully open.

"Let's go start our lives again." Zol said.

And with that, the two felines sprinted into the vast plains of the wild to begin their new lives.